Hockey and Global Warming

Hockey and global warming may seem unrelated, but for some there is a deep and dramatic connection. Consider this Bloomberg News story, "NHL Players Save Planet for Next Wayne Gretzky:"

In the autumn of 2006, Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference met with David Suzuki, a broadcaster and environmentalist. Suzuki repeated the oft-told tale about how Wayne Gretzky as a child would practice late into the night on the backyard ice rink his father built in Brantford, Ontario. The story made a big impression on Ference. “I imagine a kid nowadays would say he can't have that kind of outdoor rink,” Ference told Bloomberg News. “It really drives home the point that something is happening” with our climate.

Many scientists agree that “something” is indeed happening. A rising concentration of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is creating changes in the climate—changes that already are having an impact on hockey. From Vancouver to Vermont, Stockholm to Moscow, the ponds we grew up playing on are freezing later in the year and melting sooner. In order to stop the effects of climate change, the world must develop a cleaner mix of energy sources, such as nuclear energy and renewable energy.

Nuclear power plants do not emit any greenhouse gases or air pollution while generating electricity. Because uranium fuel produces electricity through the fission process rather than burning traditional fuels like coal or gas, nuclear energy does not produce carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. The 104 nuclear plants provide 20 percent of U.S. electricity overall; 70 percent of all carbon-free electricity. In Canada, nuclear energy generates 53% of Ontario’s electricity.

For local Caps fans, 85 percent of the clean electricity produced in Maryland comes from the nuclear power plant in Calvert Cliffs, located 45 miles from Verizon Center. In Virginia, nuclear energy produces 91 percent of the state's emission-free power.

And here's a Hart Trophy-worthy statistic: the volume of greenhouse gas emissions prevented at U.S. nuclear power plants is equivalent to taking nearly all passenger cars off America's roadways.

Hockey players are uniquely qualified to comment on the demonstrable effects of global warming. We applaud the initiatives that NHL teams, the NHL and the NHL Players' Association have undertaken to raise climate change awareness among hockey fans everywhere.